In Part One of our Omnivore round-up, we looked at recent releases from Big Star and Roger Taylor. Today, we're turning the spotlight on Ian Matthews and the trio of Roger Manning, Jason Falkner and Brian Reitzell, a.k.a. TV Eyes! “This album was very much a conscious attempt at something a little more AOR, without deserting my roots.” So writes Ian (or, as he’s sometimes known on record, Iain) Matthews in his introduction to Omnivore Recordings’ splendid 2014 reissue of his 1978 album
Another Side: Shedding Light On Bob Dylan's "Shadows"
With this week's release of Shadows in the Night, Bob Dylan has unveiled his buzziest album in years. On track to become Dylan's eighth No. 1 album in the U.K. - with chart success also expected stateside - Shadows in the Night is the album on everybody's lips. We can't stop talking about it at Second Disc HQ, either. Joe filed his review on Tuesday, but longtime Dylanphile Ted has "another side" to offer, too! Please join the discussion and sound off below on the latest work from one of
A Time In Her Life: Ace Reissues Sarah Vaughan's Soul-Jazz Classic
By 1971, the expansion of the Great American Songbook was well underway. It became clear to many that the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Bob Dylan and their contemporaries were more than just a flash in the pan. The most prescient observers could have realized – and some did – that these songs would one day be sung in programs alongside those of Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Irving
Review: Bob Dylan, "Shadows in the Night"
How does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone? Chances are it feels much like the milieu of Bob Dylan’s newest studio album, Shadows in the Night. The characters that emerge from these Shadows have all pulled up stools at the last chance saloon, a room filled with strangers and lost souls, where idylls of romance vanish into the air as quickly as the omnipresent wisps of cigarette smoke. Regrets, they’ve had a few. The songs on
In Memoriam: Rod McKuen (1933-2015) - A Second Disc Encore Review
On January 29, 2015, we lost a true American original with the passing of Rod McKuen, 81. Poet, composer, lyricist, singer, author, artist; there were few mountains that McKuen didn't climb to great success. An Oscar and Pulitzer nominee, and a Grammy winner, McKuen also was among the earliest to champion the works of Jacques Brel, and was a longtime advocate for gay rights. "It doesn't matter who you love, or how you love, but that you love," McKuen once said. In his own recordings and
Soul Spotlight: Linda Jones, Barbara Lynn Get Complete Treatment from Real Gone, SoulMusic
Of all the great labels famous for soul and R&B, few could boast the pedigree of Atlantic Records. Atlantic’s commitment to quality soul music extended beyond just the famous names such as Aretha Franklin or Solomon Burke. An Atlantic label on an artist was a stamp of quality. SoulMusic Records and Real Gone Music have recently released collections from two underrated artists from the Atlantic family of labels. Linda Jones scored only one hit in her too-short 28 years: 1967’s
Review: The Kinks, "Muswell Hillbillies: Legacy Edition"
Ted’s checking in today with a look at one of the finest reissues of the last quarter of 2014: the CD/DVD Legacy Edition of The Kinks’ Muswell Hillbillies! - JM For God’s sake…Wanna have a cuppa tea with The Kinks…?! It’s the dead of winter and what better way to warm up these days then to spend some quality time with Ray Davies and company’s take on Americana, glam rock, and a touch of vaudeville on their 1971 classic album, Muswell Hillbillies? Taking its name from The Kinks’ cosmopolitan
Review: Jellyfish, "Bellybutton" and "Spilt Milk" Deluxe Editions
Omnivore Recordings has come out swinging in 2015! With the long-anticipated deluxe reissues of Jellyfish’s two studio albums finally here, the label has set a high bar for sheer pop ecstasy. While the band is often tagged as “power pop” – which is not altogether inaccurate – these two 2-CD sets make a strong case that Jellyfish was so much more. In his liner notes for this deluxe revival of 1990 debut Bellybutton (OVCD-5), author Ken Sharp points out that “everyone from Queen to Henry
Ella, Satchmo, Aretha, Miles and The Merm Featured On Starbucks' "Fascinating Gershwin"
When The Library of Congress established a Prize for Popular Song in 2007, one name was affixed to it: Gershwin. With no disrespect to Messrs. Berlin, Porter, Rodgers and company, George and Ira’s surname is synonymous with the gold standard in American popular song. The recipients of the award to date – Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Carole King and Billy Joel – have all followed in the Gershwins’ footsteps of marrying smart, sophisticated and incisive
Sunshine Special: Now Sounds Collects "The Best of The GoldeBriars"
Late in 1963, The GoldeBriars recorded “Sunshine Special,” the group’s adaptation of the traditional train song. Curt Boettcher – the male vocalist in the line-up and also its major creative leader – would later make sunshine a specialty; his shimmering California-pop productions for the likes of The Millennium, The Ballroom and Sagittarius have all gone on to attain cult status. There’s not much of that baroque psych-pop sound on Now Sounds’ Walkin’ Down the Line: The Best of The GoldeBriars
The Cryan' Shames' "Sugar and Spice" Goes Mono In Now Sounds' Expanded Reissue
When the venerable Goddard Lieberson, President of Columbia Records, announced the ascendancy of Clive Davis to a veep position at the label in 1965, the promotion of the younger man heralded for a new sound at Columbia. Lieberson had made Columbia the leader in the fields of classical and Broadway cast recordings, and was looking to position the label at the vanguard of rock, too. A number of new signings followed. Among those acts signed to the industry leader was The Cryan’ Shames, favorites
Reviews: Two From Omnivore - Big Star, "Live in Memphis" and Roger Taylor, "The Best"
Welcome to Part One of our two-part review round-up featuring some of Omnivore Recordings’ releases from late 2014! Just when one thinks the Big Star well has run dry, Omnivore Recordings surprises with a treat of the magnitude of Live in Memphis (OVCD-107). On October 29, 1994 at Memphis’ New Daisy Theatre, Big Star founding members Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, were joined by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies for an overflowing set of Big Star classics and covers in front of an
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Captain Beefheart, "SUN ZOOM SPARK 1970 to 1972"
“Art is rearranging and grouping mistakes.” So the late Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, is quoted on the cover of the fourth disc of Rhino’s new box set SUN ZOOM SPARK: 1970 to 1972. It’s appropriate and ironic that the aphorism is featured on the sleeve of that disc, a collection of never-before-heard outtakes from the Captain and his Magic Band. But the tracks are far from mistakes; instead, they offer a window onto the process with which Van Vliet created his unmistakable brand of
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Wilco, "What's Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014"
We’d like to welcome back Ted Frank for today’s Holiday Gift Guide review! Ted is taking a look at the new two-CD anthology What’s Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014 from alt-rock greats Wilco. (Since 2004, the line-up has consisted of vocalist/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and drummer Glenn Kotche.) This first-ever retrospective of the Grammy Award-winning band has been produced for the
Croydon Municipal, Saint Etienne Enter Christmas Land With "Songs For a London Winter"
As Bob Stanley writes in his liner notes to the new collection Songs for a London Winter, “Christmas has always been a special time in Saint Etienne’s world. We’ve release singles, EPs, covered Cliff Richard songs, played at the Palladium, thrown a few parties and sunk a few whisky macs. We love it. But this is the first time we’ve had the opportunity to put together a Christmas compilation of other people’s songs.” Songs for a London Winter, on Stanley’s Croydon Municipal imprint of Cherry Red,
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Suzi Quatro, "The Girl from Detroit City"
Susan Kay Quatro, a.k.a. Suzi Quatro, has sold 55 million singles and LPs, scored five U.K. Top 10s and twelve Top 50s including two chart-toppers, followed in the footsteps of Ethel Merman onstage, appeared on television’s Happy Days, and influenced a “Who’s Who” including Joan Jett and The Go-Go’s. Quatro is billed as The Girl from Detroit City on her first-ever retrospective box set which has been recently released by Cherry Red Records. This 4-CD, 82-song book-style box is packed with
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Judy Garland, "The Garland Variations: Songs She Recorded More Than Once"
Judy Garland opens JSP Records’ new 5-CD box set The Garland Variations: Songs She Recorded More Than Once (JSP 975) with “Everybody Sing,” the kind of rousing showstopper she was practically born to sing. Sessions for the song from MGM’s Broadway Melody of 1938 began when Garland was on the cusp of just fifteen years old, but the power of her vocal instrument was already in place. But even when belting with a force to rival the mighty Merman, there was always something unfailingly intimate – or
Holiday Gift Guide Review: "International Pop Overthrow: Volume 17"
We'd like to extend a big welcome to the newest member of our Second Disc family, author Ted Frank. Ted, a self-described "power pop-a-holic," kicks off his contributions to The Second Disc with a review of the latest collection from the fine folks at The International Pop Overthrow Festival. The Festival's seventeenth volume (yes, seventeenth - congratulations, IPO!) of pure pop for now people is just the latest in a smashing line of releases designed to introduce you to the best bands you've
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Simon and Garfunkel, "The Complete Albums Collection"
Queens Boys Make Good, a headline might have read of young Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel when “The Sound of Silence,” a bleakly beautiful, acoustic snapshot of disillusionment and isolation, sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 on New Year’s Day 1966. Simon and Garfunkel were unlikely candidates for pop stardom. Neither English major Simon nor fine arts (later architecture) major Garfunkel hid their cerebral, intellectual tendencies. As the era of the singer-songwriter blossomed in the wake of Bob
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Joni Mitchell, "Love Has Many Faces"
Joni Mitchell wasn't yet 25 when she first gifted the world her song "Both Sides Now." Judy Collins made its first commercially-released recording; soon artists were lining up to record it, including Frank Sinatra. The 25-year old Mitchell herself released it in 1969. In what might be her most famous song, she asserted, "I really don't know love at all." Flash-forward to the present day, and the 71-year old singer-songwriter-artist seems well-acquainted with the vagaries of that most universal
Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Folk and Country Christmas with The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four and the Statler Brothers
The cover of The Kingston Trio’s 1960 Capitol release The Last Month of the Year depicts the three young folksingers in suits and ties, each loaded with a bundle of Christmas gifts. With a cover like that, one could be forgiven for having expected the group to deliver a jovial set of holiday favorites. Instead, The Trio created an album of rare beauty but considerable darkness. As such, it’s hardly your typical holiday fare but Real Gone Music’s reissue (RGM-0312) is a worthwhile inclusion on
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Sinatra, "London"
It was ambitious, even for Sinatra. His sixth studio album on his own Reprise label – and one of five full-length LPs released in 1962 alone – would be recorded in Great Britain with a British musical director, producer and personnel, and would feature only songs from British composers. For the quintessentially American singer, it must have been a formidable challenge. But Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain proved that The Voice was up to the task. Over time, it became a
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Monkees, "The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition"
For The Monkees, the third time's the charm. The 1966 debut album from Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike has been expanded twice before on CD - first in 1994 on one CD and then in 2006 as a two-CD set. Rhino Handmade has recently unveiled the third and most comprehensive release of this album yet, and with 45 previously unreleased bonus cuts among its 100 songs, The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition (R2-543027) is not just Monkee mania, but Monkee manna. The story of this American fab four has been told
Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Classic Christmas With Rosemary Clooney, Frank DeVol
Welcome to Part One of a two-part series exploring the recent line-up of Christmas releases from Real Gone Music! 1954’s White Christmas, quite simply, remains one of the most beloved holiday musicals to ever hit the silver screen. Built around the songbook of Irving Berlin – who lived to the age of 101 in 1989 but was already a Grand Old Man of American music by 1954 – the film starred Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. Such a quartet promised an evening’s
Holiday Gift Guide Review: "The Classic Christmas Album" Series
Johnny Mathis. Frank Sinatra. Perry Como. Steve Vai? Menudo? When it comes to Christmas music, Legacy Recordings doesn’t pull its punches. The label’s series of Classic Christmas Album releases has become a bit of an annual tradition, and this year’s batch of single- and various-artist anthologies once again draws on names both expected and unexpected. While the packages are bare-bones, with no liner notes (but happily with full credits and discographical annotation), the music most certainly is
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